The Times Have Changed
by Witch4
Summary: Sequel to my other story The New Recruit takes place five years later. RononOC and some implied Sheyla. A face from the past comes to them from the future. Rated for language and future chapters. Chapters 5 & 6 are up.
1. Lunch and the New Recruits

The Times Have Changed-Chapter 1-Lunch and the New Recruits

Same old disclaimer we've all seen. I only own the characters I come up with in my ADD brain; I don't own the characters from the series. For those that are wondering, yes, this is the sequel to _The New Recruit_. Some obviously implied Sheyla.

* * *

"Ouch! Dammit!" and a long line of other expletives in various languages, including Ancient, sounded from one US Air Force Captain Charlene "Charlie" Ballard as she attempted to fix the Ancient device Major Lorne's team had procured on M4S-917 the day before. It had been working fine when they brought it back, but then it just stopped working and her boss, Dr. Rodney McKay, had insisted that she be the one to find out what was wrong since she had the stronger ATA gene.

"What happened?" a low voice asked her as she sucked on her injured finger that had been shocked by the "broken" device.

Charlie turned her head to see that "very good friend" Ronon Dex had dropped by in the middle of her cursing out the damned device that had decided that it didn't like her messing around with its internal systems. "The stupid thing won't work anymore and McKay has decided that since I have a strong ATA gene, that I am the one who will find out what's wrong and fix it. What brings you here?"

"You've been down here for a while and I thought you might be hungry," he answered as he produced a Styrofoam box from which the tantalizing smell of actual ground beef was emanating from.

"Is that-?"

"Dr. Z said that you might like a cheeseburger," he told her as he handed over the warm white box and a thermos cup that smelled suspiciously of raspberry tea.

"I take it that the Daedalus has returned?" she asked before biting into the burger.

"Yeah; and Sheppard said to tell you that the two of us have the new round of recruits to train."

"Oh joy," came the muffled answer as the Airman carefully ate the much-needed food.

The Czech scientist, who Charlie also reported to when it came to scientific matters, had also managed to include salted fries for his now often-overworked assistant. She glared at the Satedan as he took a few and stuffed them into his mouth, "Those are mine!"

"You're eating your cheeseburger." Once she had swallowed a mouthful of tea, she stuck her tongue out at him, which elicited a laugh from the large man.

After knowing the blonde woman for almost five years, Ronon had become a much livelier individual. Unless, of course, you mentioned the first time they had sparred with each other or he felt the need to go back to his original persona of the glaring and brooding man that Atlantis had first met.

Charlie had also changed in that time. When she had first come to Atlantis, she had been a subordinate. Okay, she was still a subordinate, but she was also now one of the city's senior officers and had recently received a commission from the SGC for all of her hard work and her saving the city's flagship team on a still-classified mission (Sheppard refused to allow anyone to read the report and kept have of it locked in his office and the other half locked in his and Teyla's room). Said commission had confused quite a few of the personal that had not been on the mission; in fact, her promotion to the rank of captain had surprised her, too. She later found out that Col. Sheppard had written a letter to Gen. O'Neill (who had also been surprised at the request), asking to have her promoted to a rank that, if looked at from a bottom-to-top scenario, was the third from lowest rank for an officer, similar to her rank as an Airman First Class being the third from lowest rank for someone who had enlisted. She was also one of the few people in the city that could keep Kavanaugh, who had been forced to return due to his knowledge of some of the city's lower levels that had been closed off after the storm their first year in the city, in line without even raising her voice (though it had taken some work).

Their relationship had also progressed, but only the senior staff knew how far.

"So, how many noobs have we got this time around?" she asked as she managed to save the rest of the fries from her burly friend.

"Thirty; ten soldiers, ten scientists, and ten medical personal," he answered.

"How many do you think are going to try to hit on the Sheppards?" she asked. It had become a joke among all of the military personal, be they security, science, or medicine, to bet on how many men would hit on Teyla Emmagen-Sheppard, leader of the Athosians and 2IC on the city's flagship team, and how many women would flirt with her husband and teammate, Colonel John Sheppard.

"Half."

"Half? You think that half of the new recruits will flirt with and hit on the Sheppards?"

"Yep."

"You're on, Dex. I'll go with it." The two shook hands before cleaning up her lab and heading out to the main part of the city and the Gate room to introduce themselves to their new trainees.

* * *

"So, how many do you think-" Lt. Colonel Marcus Lorne asked Ronon and Charlie as they joined the other Atlantis senior personal in meeting and greeting the city's newest inhabitants.

"Half," they both answered.

"Half? Really?"

"Have you checked the roster? Seven of them are married and will only be here for the next six months until those they're standing in for get back," Charlie told her XO.

"Well, I guess that makes sense. I take it you agree with her, Dex?" The only answer he received from the hulking Satedan was a nod. "Okay, then."

A few minutes later, all thirty of the new recruits were led in by one of the older sergeants (someone had once made a joke about them looking a little like they had just come from the first Harry Potter movie) into the Gate room. Since it had been close to three in the morning in Atlantis when they had arrived, Dr. Weir had insisted that the "Welcome Ceremony" be held at 1300 the next day.

"Hello everyone; I'm Dr. Elizabeth Weir and I would just like to say welcome to Atlantis. This is our military commander, Colonel John Sheppard and his team," she motioned to the man standing next to her, Teyla, McKay, and Ronon before continuing "Our CMO Dr. Beckett, Doctors Zelenka and Kusanagi, and our military second and third, Lt. Col. Lorne and Captain Ballard." She indicated each person standing with her.

The staff of Atlantis that had been there for a while was already used to this by now; the welcoming ceremony and introduction of senior staff was something the Dr. Weir had insisted they do in order to make the new personal feel more welcome and comfortable in their new environment. It also ensured that they knew who the superiors were in case of an emergency and they needed to evacuate.

Dr. Weir continued, "You'll all now report to the main gym for training. Dismissed." Everyone filed out; they would be personally introduced to most of the senior staff as the week progressed, starting with Ronon and Charlie in the main gym.

It was later revealed by the same sergeant that Ronon and Charlie had been right about half of the new people gazing with a look of lust upon each face as they stared up at the Colonel and his wife.

"I can't wait to see what happens," Lorne murmured to Sheppard as they watched the newbies and their "trainers" disappear. It was common knowledge among the military members of Atlantis and those that had trained with the Satedan and the captain that they were two of the hardest (besides the Sheppards) and strongest taskmasters in the city and would not allow anyone to get out of training. It had become another favorite betting pool among the people of the City of the Ancestors to see how long it would take before even the toughest newbie cracked.

"I'm with you on that. Tell me how it turns out."

"You're not coming?"

"Halling has requested us and Elizabeth on the mainland," Teyla supplied.

"I see; well, have fun." With that said, they turned their separate ways, John and Teyla to the 'jumper bay to meet up with Elizabeth and Lorne to the nearest transporter, and the Gate room and control centre were peaceful once more.

* * *

Okay, so that was a bit long-winded. What did you think? Please click the pretty blue button and review! 


	2. Training

The Times Have Changed-Chapter 2-Training

* * *

It only took Ronon and Charlie a little over two minutes to get to the gym. They jogged to the nearest transporter, arrived at the transporter closest to the gym and quickly walked to the room where, as both scientists and Marines had called it after their sessions with the Captain and former Satedan specialist, the "torture" would soon begin. Ten minutes after their arrival in the large room that had been designated the main training room, they heard the faint voices of the new recruits bouncing off the walls as they walked down the hall.

"So, shall we start them off with the usual routine?" Charlie asked him as they set up the remaining mats.

"Yeah," was the monosyllabic answer that had become his trademark in the past seven years. Despite the fact that he had become quite chatty (by Ronon standards), the Satedan still preferred to stay as silent as possible when in the presence of those he had only just met.

* * *

The next day, they were watching as their "students" practiced the basic self-defense moves they had taught them. It was obvious to both that the Marines were whispering about them while they practiced, and some of what they were saying was quite amusing. Some were talking about what has now been dubbed the Wall Incident (A/N: See Chapter 1 of "The New Recruit"). Others were discussing what they had heard about what happens when you pissed off the Satedan. The ways that he could supposedly (he wasn't saying if it was true or not) kill someone were pretty inventive; some had him killing a person with a single blow to the gut, while others said that he could sneak up on a person and decapitate them without making a sound.

"Alright people, Doc Beckett will kill us if we don't let you out for lunch, so be back here in 1 hour or I'll have Sgt. Jennings hunt you down!" Charlie yelled at the group assembled. They had heard enough stories on the trip from Earth to know that the Air Force captain would have the man hunt every last one of them down and then make them run laps around Atlantis with Col. Sheppard and Ronon the next morning. They all agreed and left the room, heading for the mess hall and their waiting lunches.

As they took the long way to the mess hall, they decided to discuss what they had heard while watching the newbies practice. "I heard something about you being able to kill a man without leaving a trace of yourself. What did you hear?"

"They seemed amused by our first sparring session."

"You mean the time I threw you across the gym?" Ronon only grunted in reply.

"You know, I gleamed quite a bit off of some of the women."

"I thought you only read people's thoughts when it was necessary."

"I said I gleamed; I don't recall mentioning anything about reading thoughts. Besides, they don't know that they're supposed to keep track of their thoughts when they're around me. Anyway, some of the women think that you'd be quite the catch."

"Really? And am I?" He stopped her and turned so that they faced each other.

"Of course you are. I just won't tell them that." She turned and continued on her way towards the mess hall. "Are you coming?"

"So, how did the first half of the session go?" Sheppard asked his teammate and "third-in-command."

"Interesting; it seems that both you and Ronon are the objects of many women's fascination. They seem to think that you might be good catches," Charlie answered.

"Really?"

"Really what?" McKay asked as he, Teyla, and Elizabeth joined them and Lorne at what was now their "usual" lunch table.

"The Captain here was just telling us what our newbies think of us. You should elaborate a little more."

"She has them more scared of her then they are of me," Ronon told the group assembled.

"That's not surprising. Remember how she made the last group get up at 0400 and jog with you two when they were 2 minutes late getting back from lunch?" McKay reminded them.

"I can't help it if even the Marines don't know that when they're told a specific time, they should be there one time."

"Yes, but you also gave them a three hour lecture on the importance of being punctual," Elizabeth added.

"Are you talking about the self-defense training session?" Dr. Miko Kusanagi asked as she, Zelenka, Beckett, and Cadman joined their colleagues for their usual lunch-time conference about the city's newest citizens.

"Yep; apparently me and Ronon fascinate the noobs," Sheppard informed them as the newcomers sat down.

"That's only part of it," Charlie told them. "A lot of them are wondering when they're going to go off-world."

"Typical newbies," Lorne said.

"Do they know that they still have weapons and computer training and proficiency tests to go through before they go to the Alpha site?" Cadman asked.

"Nope."

"That'll be interesting when they find out."

"Especially since most of them have never had to go off-world and play the Colonel's hiding and seeking game," Teyla said.

"That's Hide and Go Seek-Pegasus style," Sheppard corrected his wife.

"Of course."

The group continued discussing the schedule they had for the newbies for the next twenty minutes before it was time for Charlie and Ronon to go back to the gym and wait for the recruits. The newbies, not paying attention to their instructors leaving continued to eat their lunches and enjoy their brief respite from said instructors.

* * *

When the newbies entered the gym, they were astonished to find that the rumors concerning the strength of the young captain hadn't been exaggerated. She and Ronon had been sparring and he had apparently caught her off guard. Or so their students thought.

In no time at all, Charlie had feigned her guard, caught Ronon in the gut with her right arm, and thrown him ten feet to her right. Looking up, they finally noticed that they had company and Charlie moved to help the Satedan stand. For someone that looked so small in comparison to the man's bulk, she was quite strong. She soon had the attention of all of the newbies and hoped that she hadn't embarrassed Ronon too much. They quickly went back to training and the incident was soon forgotten.

* * *

Okay, so that was chapter 2! Did you like it? Hate it? Reviews are food for the fan fiction writer's soul. 


	3. It's Been Way Too Quiet

The Times Have Changed-Chapter 3-It's Been Way Too Quiet

* * *

It had been one month since the training of the newbies ("How can they not know how to operate a simple computer program!" McKay had later yelled at the weekly meeting) and everyone was once again settling in. Jinto, Wex, and the other Athosian children their age had completed their very first trading mission with only a few minor glitches, the harvest season on the mainland had been successful, and their latest group of refugees were deciding where they would now go (their two choices were the mainland or the Alpha site). All in all, it had been a pretty quiet month.

In fact, it had been too quiet, Elizabeth noted. Everyone had been going about their usual business while at the same time waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. And drop it did, in the form of an angry creature that resembled what one might get if you crossed a giraffe with an elephant; a very angry, large, and extremely hostile elephant.

"Atlantis, lower the shield, we're coming in hot!" came the message that afternoon. Elizabeth nodded to the gate tech and no sooner had the shield been lifted when Lt. Col. Lorne and his team, accompanied by Ronon, Charlie, and Zelenka came barreling through the event horizon, shooting at an unknown threat. As soon as everyone was through the gate, the shield was raised and the expedition leader jogged down the steps to greet her city's executive officer and his off-world team.

"What happened, Colonel?" she was joined by Sergeant Bates and Sheppard.

"Wraith?"

"Negative, Sir. We're not quite sure what it was."

"Looked like a cross between a giraffe and a very angry elephant, Sir," Sgt. Thomas, a recent addition to Lorne's team, answered.

"A giraffe and an elephant?"

"Very large elephant with a temper like Rodney's when we're out of regular coffee," Zelenka added.

"I take it we can take that planet off the list of possible Beta sites?" Elizabeth asked them.

"Along with possible ZPM locations," Zelenka said.

"Alright, debriefing in one hour."

* * *

"You know, I think we were just waiting for the other shoe to drop," John told Teyla as they began their sparring session.

"You mean, it was too quiet around here," she clarified for herself as she blocked his attack.

"Yeah; it's been way too quiet around here. No explosions, no Wraith, no attacks. I think we were all waiting for the giraffe-elephant hybrid," he agreed as he blocked her volley of attacks.

"Are you regretting not going to M6T-237?"

"No, not really; it sounded like that world that had the T-Rex."

"M1M-316?"

"Yeah, that's the one. It sounded just like it, don't you think?"

"Yes, Col. Lorne's description of the planet did sound familiar." John laughed as he barely missed blocking another of his wife's attacks; he had gotten a lot better over the past five years. "Did I say something amusing?"

"No, Teyla. God, no. I was just thinking about how we've all changed in the last five years. I'm a full colonel," he dodged another attack and attempted to catch her off guard with one of his own. "Lorne's a lieutenant colonel, Bates is now a technical sergeant, and Ballard's a captain," he ducked as she sent another attack, coming back with one of his own.

"Yes, we have all changed. Soon Elizabeth and Rodney will be married, Laura and Carson have Malcolm, and Ronon and Charlie are becoming closer every day. Jinto and his friends will be adults soon. Callie is almost 5," she ducked one of John's attacks and finished their session by literally sweeping her husband off his feet whereupon he landed on the mat on his back.

"Yeah; it's so hard to believe that our little Callie will be school-age soon." Callie and her older sister Menar were orphaned refugees that Sheppard and his team had found a year before on the planet they had designated M2G-985. John and Teyla had immediately fallen in love with the little girls and adopted them. Life had certainly changed for all.

They decided to call it a night, picked up their equipment, and headed to the room that had been designated the classroom for the children of Atlantis. For the past four years, the ancient city had seen a rise in families; many were refugees from culled planets that had been scientists and soldiers on their home worlds. Sheppard and Weir had given those that came from relatively advanced worlds, that is, worlds only a few decades behind Earth, the chance to stay in the city and help in the war against the Wraith. Half of those they gave the offer to accepted, while the other half went to either the Alpha site or the mainland. As it was, including the Sheppards, there were fourteen families in the city that had children. It had been agreed early on in the relocation of refugees that if there were going to be children in the city, then there should be a school. The younger children went to classes while the teenagers apprenticed the soldiers and civilians of the city. They dropped off their gear in their quarters and went to go pick up their daughters.

As they entered the classroom, they were greeted by two brown-haired balls of energy who always somehow managed to knock John off his feet when they greeted him.

"Mommy! Daddy! Are we going to dinner now?" the girls asked in unison.

John laughed as he stood and picked up the younger of the two girls and hoisted her in the air. The child laughed as he put her down. "Yeah, you ready?"

"Yes!" came the twin giggles.

The family left the room and headed for the mess hall where they were greeted by many of the expedition members. Teyla spotted the large table that their "family" had chosen for their evening meal and she and John left the girls sitting with Miko and Zelenka.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the Sheppards, the Becketts, Rodney, Elizabeth, Zelenka, Ronon, Charlie, Miko, and Lorne were talking and laughing as always when Bates ran over to Sheppard and Elizabeth, who always sat next to each other at meals in cases like this, and whispered that they had a security problem and the city's leader and military commander were needed in the cell room. Elizabeth motioned to Carson, and the three of them followed the security chief.

"What's the problem?" Sheppard asked when they saw the young woman lying on the pad they had decided to put in the cell.

"We found her wandering around with no tags. No one knows who she is or how she got here."

"She could have come in last week with the other refugees."

"I checked; no one from that planet knows who she is."

Carson had the Marine standing guard open the cell door and stepped inside to inspect the unconscious figure. What he found startled him. He turned on his radio and called for a gurney and a medical team. When the others just stared at him he told them, "She's in shock" and waited for his team to get there.

* * *

An hour after the mysterious woman was brought into the infirmary, Beckett was explaining what he had found after admitting the woman.

"Not only was she in shock, but she was bleeding internally and is malnourished. Until she wakes up, I have her under round the clock observation." He finished explaining to the city's civilian and military leaders what he had found and left them staring as he went to his office.

The girl had Goa'uld proteins in her DNA. The girl had been a Goa'uld host.

* * *

Okay, so what do you think of my third chapter? Like it? Hate it? Please review it! 


	4. Is she a Goa'uld?

The Times Have Changed-Chapter 4-Is she a Goa'uld?

* * *

"Goa'uld? The girl's a Goa'uld?" McKay sputtered at the meeting.

"No, Rodney. She only has the proteins that are left over by the symbiote," Beckett tried to reassure the Canadian.

"What's a Goa'uld?" Ronon, ever ready for a fight, asked the group assembled.

"Remember when I told you about those aliens that look like snakes and live in people's heads? Well, that's what a Goa'uld is," Sheppard explained.

"Don't forget that the Tok'ra are similar; they're just not evil," Lorne added, still a bit grateful for the assistance the "good" symbiotic aliens had provided when he and the rest of the expedition had been recalled and he had been assigned to his old SG team and the mission they had been on turned ugly. Out of everyone assembled, only he, Elizabeth, McKay, and Charlie had ever come across a Goa'uld "project" and McKay was the only one that had never come face-to-face with one or the "evil" symbiotic aliens.

"That's true, but we have no way of knowing if it was a Goa'uld or a Tok'ra-"

"Or if she's the descendent of a host," Charlie interrupted Beckett. She quickly added "Sorry, Doc."

The group turned to the young captain. "What do you mean 'if she's the descendent of a host'?" Bates asked her.

"Well, on my first mission with the SGC, Dr. Jackson and I were on a mission with another SG team when they found a village full of people that had been descended from both the Tok'ra and the Goa'uld. They could activate Goa'uld technologies and a few of them had the same proteins that continue to show up for three generations after a person stops being a host. It was difficult to tell through scientific tests which individuals were the descendents and which had actually been hosts. The only way we could find out what category to put them into was to ask them questions that only a host would know."

Everyone was silent for a moment while McKay and Beckett both searched through the records they had been given by the SGC to find the events that the captain had spoken of.

"She's right," Beckett spoke as he looked up from his computer. "Dr. Lam states that the only way they could determine if some of the individuals had actually been hosts or not was to get the Tok'ra to ask those they weren't sure about questions that only a host would know."

"Dr. Jackson also added that the children and grandchildren of hosts retained the genetic memory that symbiote queens give to their offspring," Rodney stated as he, too, looked up from his computer.

"So, what do we do? Wait until she wakes up and then ask her questions?"

"That's about all we can do. Dismissed," Elizabeth said and soon everyone was collecting laptops and notebooks and pushing in chairs before they left the room.

_

* * *

Where the hell am I? the mysterious young woman in the infirmary asked herself as she slowly woke up. __And why the hell does my head feel like someone landed a plane on it?_ As she struggled to sit up, her groan alerted the nurse on duty that the only patient they currently had was awake. She quickly called Dr. Beckett before going to see how the woman was. the mysterious young woman in the infirmary asked herself as she slowly woke up. As she struggled to sit up, her groan alerted the nurse on duty that the only patient they currently had was awake. She quickly called Dr. Beckett before going to see how the woman was. 

"How are you feeling?" Nurse Jenny Thomas asked the woman struggling to sit up in bed. She quickly moved to lift the top half of the bed so that the woman could sit up and when she was sitting up, Jenny gave her a cup of water to drink.

"Thanks. I've been better. Who are you and where the hell am I?" she asked Jenny.

Thankfully, Jenny didn't have to answer as her boss, Dr. Carson Beckett, had just walked in and was approaching the bed. "Thank you, Jenny. I'm Dr. Carson Beckett and you're in Atlantis. Can you tell me your name and what you remember?"

The woman nodded before answering. "Dr. Cassandra Frasier. Last thing I remember is going through the Stargate on _Earth_ before I woke up here."

Getting over his shock, Carson checked Dr. Frasier's vitals. "Can you tell me the date, Cassandra? I'm just checking for concussion," he added quickly.

"Thursday, April 12, 2018," she answered. The Scotsman nodded as he made a note in his data pad.

"Alright; think you're up for some food?" at her hungry nod, Carson called down to the kitchen and asked the chief on duty if something substantial could be sent up to the infirmary for his patient.

* * *

A few hours later, the city's senior staff was once again sitting in the conference room, listening as Dr. Beckett told them about his patient.

"Are you sure she's Cassie Frasier? I mean, Cassie's only 24; she's still working on her master's," McKay said after Carson had finished speaking.

"I tested her DNA against the sample that we have on file from the SGC. I'm 100 sure that the woman in my infirmary is Cassandra Frasier."

"Yeah, but, a doctor? Rodney's right, she's still in grad school. How could she be a doctor?" Lorne asked.

"She could have traveled back in time," Zelenka said. "The Stargate _has_ sent people through time before. And Carson did say that she thought that the year was 2018. It's not too farfetched."

"Yes, but that was because of a solar flare in the _Milky Way_. She somehow started out at the SGC seven years from now and ended up in Pegasus. I don't believe it. She doesn't even look like the Cassie we know! Her hair's too short!" Cassie had just left the week before after spending the last two months in Atlantis.

"People do get their hair cut, McKay," Charlie said.

"Yes, but how do you explain the Goa'uld proteins in her DNA?" he asked the group assembled.

"That's an easy one. I had Dr. Bakker run the tests again. What we initially thought to be the proteins left behind by a Goa'uld, which is in fact what they were, were proteins that had been introduced to her system by the Goa'uld Nirti when she was a child."

"That does explain most of our questions," Elizabeth said.

"It does?" Sheppard and Rodney both asked.

"Yes, gentlemen," she answered. "Dismissed." People once again gathered their things and filed out. "Carson, a moment please," Elizabeth called to her CMO.

"Yes, love? What can I do for you?" he sat back down.

"I'd like to speak with Dr. Frasier later, if that's all right with you."

"Yes, Elizabeth; that's fine. Come by at 1730." He got up to left, flashing her a smile before disappearing in the direction that led to the infirmary.

"Thank you."

* * *

Okay, so that was chapter 4. What'd you think? 


	5. Wormhole Physics

The Times Have Changed-Chapter 5-Wormhole Physics

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. It's not the year 2018; it's actually the year 2011? That means that I'm still in grad school," Dr. Cassie Fraiser muttered this last part to herself while looking to the people standing in front of her.

"Yes, Doctor. What was the last thing you remember?" Carson asked the young woman.

"I was working here in the infirmary and there was an emergency off world. You asked me to go with you, and when I came out from the Stargate, I was here," she explained.

"May I ask what you do on Atlantis in your time? You seem a bit young to be an attending."

"That's because you and Dr. Lam signed off on my residency papers and asked me to come here. As far as the medical board is concerned, I'm doing my residency on an air force base under the tutelage of you."

"That still doesn't explain how you got here," McKay said as he and Sheppard joined the doctors.

"She's not quite sure how it happened, Rodney," Elizabeth told her fiancé.

"Although, now that I've thought it out, I'm beginning to suspect that something interfered with the gate either right before or the exact moment that I went through," Cassie added.

This piqued Rodney's interest and soon he and Cassie were bouncing ideas off each other. The others decided to leave them to it and left, but not before Carson gave them strict instructions to "Call me if something happens or ye feel different, lass."

* * *

"So, what you're saying is that somehow the gate was interfered with by an outside force and caused you to travel seven years into the past?" Dr. Engler, a recent addition to Rodney's physics department and sci-fi lover extraordinaire, asked the young woman seated across from him.

"Well, that's the conclusion that Dr. McKay and I came up with. What do you think?" Cassie asked the man.

"I think you're on to something. Remember when SG-1 went back in time to the year 1969?"

"Wasn't that when a future me had to help them get back to their own time?"

"Yes, but back to what I was saying. In that case, the gate was affected by an outside force-"

"-the solar flares."

"Yes, and I'm beginning to think that that might be what happened here."

"What might have happened here?" Sheppard asked as he, Rodney, and Ronon joined the pair in Dr. Engler's lab.

"We were just discussing what might have brought Dr. Fraiser here, Colonel," the scientist explained as Sheppard and McKay took up seats at the table while Ronon leaned against a wall.

"So, what were you saying?"

"We think that something like a solar flare brought me back here. And when you think about it, it does make sense," Cassie added.

"Except that the gate has protocols in place to stop something like that from happening. Something else must have occurred-"Rodney was cut off by Doctors Zelenka and Kusanagi running into the room.

"We think we have figured it out," Zelenka excitedly told the five people already in the room.

"Figured what out?"

"We think Dr. Fraiser was brought back in time by a plasma flare in the wormhole. At least, that is the most likely explanation for the readings that we got from the diagnostic," Miko answered.

Soon, the two scientists were explaining what they had discovered and how they were going to attempt to fix the problem and send Cassie back to her own time.

* * *

Okay, I know that that was short and probably not very easy to understand, but this was long compared to the next chapter! 


	6. Once More Through the Rabbit Hole

The Times Have Changed-Chapter 6-Once More Through the Rabbit Hole

* * *

"So, explain this to me again, Doctors," Elizabeth said to the scientists gathered in the conference room.

"Dr. Fraiser needs to go back through the Stargate at the exact time that she went through it. Just before she goes through, we send a miniature naquadah flare into the gate that will cause a plasma flare and hopefully send her back to her own time," McKay explained in one breath.

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Worse case scenario is that I end up meeting the Ancients," Cassie told her.

"And you're more than 60 sure that it will work?" The scientists all nodded. "Then you have a go."

* * *

Six hours later, the scientists of Atlantis were preparing the gate and naquadah flare for what they hoped would be a one-way trip back to 2018 for Dr. Cassandra Fraiser.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, we have eight minutes before Dr. Fraiser is supposed to go through the gate. We send the flare through in seven and a half," McKay told the people gathered.

"So, you're sure that you want to do this, Doc?" Sheppard asked the young woman as he helped her with the gear that she had brought with her through the gate the first time.

"Yes and no. I know what I have to do, but it's still a bit scary when you think about the fact that one mistake and I could be dead."

"Then don't think about it." The Colonel gave her a pat on the shoulder before stepping back and letting the scientists finish up.

Seven minutes after their little chat, Sheppard watched as the mini naquadah flare was sent through the gate and thirty seconds after that, he watched as the young woman that he had heard so much about back on Earth walked through the gate without looking back.

_

* * *

In the year 2018_

Dr. Cassandra Fraiser walked through the gate and found herself back in, what she hoped, was Atlantis 2018 and not 2011. Turning, she saw the familiar faces that she had left when she had gone through the gate to the planet Nigrallt, or P6X-924 as the SGC had designated it, and breathed a sigh of relief that the plan had worked.

"Glad you managed to get back, Doc," a man's voice spoke from her left. Cassie turned and gave the man a large smile.

"Glad to be back, Colonel," she told the man.

"There were some of us that missed you a lot more than the rest," the colonel nodded towards the stairs where a man wearing the Lantean military uniform was trying to calmly walk down the stairs.

Cassie ran to him and was immediately lifted from the ground by the man. "Don't you ever do that again, Cass," he mock-scolded before giving her the welcome-home kiss she'd been longing for ever since waking up in the infirmary in the year 2011.

"I'll try not to, Aidan," she said before kissing him back.

"Now that you're back, Doctor," a slightly older looking Elizabeth Weir said to the younger woman, "report to the infirmary. Debriefing in one hour."

"Yes, ma'am," Cassie answered before being escorted to the infirmary by one Captain Aidan Ford.

"So you want to explain to me how you got to Atlantis?" she asked him as they walked to a transporter.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" he replied as they got into the transporter and were transported to the right part of the city.

Meanwhile, Sheppard and Elizabeth were discussing what to do since the Daedalus wouldn't be returning for two weeks.

"Well, the SGC suggested just letting her finish up her training here," Elizabeth told him.

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Okay, so that's the end of this story. What did you think? Sorry if it seemed strange or something. But, yay for the surprise character! 


End file.
